This week we have gone through 4 major reasons to hire a professional photographer to capture your family or wedding; technical skills and knowledge, unique artistry and personal vision, reliability and peace of mind, and experience.

Today we are going to look at my last, and perhaps most important reason to hire a professional.  This post is for my moms and dads out there.

 

As human beings, our memories aren’t so great.

Who can blame us though, with so much going on in our minds everyday?

Your children, believe it or not, or human too.  Most of the memories that they have from childhood are going to from the photographs that they are left with as they grow up.

This is, perhaps, one of the greatest things about photographs.  A photograph can cut through the clutter in your brain and bring back a moment perfectly intact even after years and years.

When your children are grown and they look back at their childhood what will they remember?

When you are creating photographs – whether yourself or by hiring a professional to create them on your behalf – you are writing your children’s history.

You deserve to be a part of your child’s visual history.  Hell, you owe it to them to be a part of their memories.

What will be more special for your child once they are grown; seeing gobs of photos of themselves or having beautiful images of the whole family bonding and enjoying spending time together?  I’m sure you agree that it will be the latter.

As a professional photographer I can not tell you how many times I have heard stories of how clients meant to have photos done, but put it off.  Mom wanted to lose 10 pounds, money was a little snug, or there just wasn’t time with all of the kids activities.  Sometimes the only thing that happens is that you end up with years of your child’s life that go undocumented.  Other times something tragic happens and a family member becomes ill or moves away.

Whatever the reason may be, capturing your lives and preserving them for the future is important.  Your kids don’t care what you look like.  To them, you look like Mommy and they love you just the way that you are.  The first thing that most people would save from their burning house (after their family) is their photos.  That’s no coincidence.  Photography is powerful and it is important.

That might just sound like lip service from someone who makes their living at photography, but I wouldn’t devote my life to this if I didn’t believe in it.

Tomorrow is my birthday.

Because I do believe in the importance of photography for everyone I am going to be doing something a little crazy to celebrate.

I’ve never done something like this before and it might be a huge, horrible disaster, but I trust you guys to make it awesome.

 

Tomorrow, April 30, starting a midnight, I have 10 full portrait sessions that are going to be offered in a silent auction.

THE FINE PRINT

These sessions can be used for:

Family

Engagement

Couples

Children

Maternity

Watercolor Beauty Sessions

Sports

1. There will be 10 sessions available in the silent auction.  You are bidding for a 1 hour photo session on location, a $250 value (with the exception of the watercolor beauty sessions which will be shot in studio and may be less than 1 hour).  Any locations fees are the responsibility of the client in addition to their bid.

2. Your bid covers ONLY your session fee.  There are no tangible or digital products included with this bid.  You will, of course, be invited to the studio after your session for a viewing appointment at which time you will be able to view and purchase products from your session.

3. Bids will be accepted from 12:01am until 11:59pm Wednesday April 30.  If you wish to submit bids for more than one session you may do so, but you must list the session types in two seperate bid emails.  If you only want one session please do not submit multiple bids.  If multiple bids are received from the same person for a single session only the highest will be accepted.

4. The 10 highest bidders will be notified on May 1 that their bid has been accepted.  You will be expected to render payment for your bid via credit or debit card at this time.  If payment is not collected your bid will be discarded and the next highest bidder will be notified.

5. Sessions must be scheduled between May 18 and July 31, 2014.  There are a limited number of dates available for shoots and they will be filled on a first come, first served basis.  If you are only available for certain dates please be sure to schedule your sessions ASAP!

6. This offer is being extended only to my newsletter subscribers and blog readers, but if you have a friend you think would like this too, please feel free to pass it along.  They can also sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/olU7v

6. I am happy to answer any questions that you may have, but please keep in mind that I will be celebrating my birthday all day and response times may be delayed as a result.

7. To enter your bid email me at molliet@gmail.com with “SILENT AUCTION BID” in the subject line.  In the body of the message include the following:

Name:

Mailing Address:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

Sessions Type:

Bid:

May the odds be ever in your favor.